Science And Technology As Catalysts For Economic Growth

Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) are critical to the development of any nation. According to international development watchers, no nation in the world can achieve greatness without a strong science and technology base.

The recognition of the importance of science and technology in national development efforts somewhat propelled the Federal Government to create the Ministry of Science and Technology in 1976.

The mandate of the ministry is to advise the government on policy issues as they relate to scientific and technological developments, while coordinating and promoting research and development activities.

Prof. Olusegun Adewoye, a former Director-General of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), succinctly underscored the importance of science and technology to the country’s development.

“Never has there been any country that made a headway in economic growth, relying solely on the availability of natural resources without the full utilisation of the available human resources,’’ he said.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who is apparently aware of the value of science and technology in national development efforts, made it a campaign issue.

During his campaigns in the lead up to the 2011 general elections, the President pledged that he would place tangible emphasis on science and technology in the next four years.

“Honestly, we have no other choice; we will just be daydreaming if we fail to harness use science and technology for our development,’’ he then said.

The President’s declaration aptly underscores the rationale behind his administration’s determination to promote science and technology and harness its myriad benefits for the country’s development.

However, a major question in the minds of many observers is: Has the presidential pledge resulted in achievements in the field of science and technology?

However, Prof. Ita Ewa, the Minister of Science and Technology, who spoke at the Ministerial Platform to mark the first anniversary of the Jonathan-administration, recounted the ministry’s achievements in the last one year.

The minister listed the achievements as including the launch of two low earth observation satellites – NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X, as well as a communication satellite-NigComSat-1R.

He also said that the rocketry was successfully launched in Epe, Lagos.

“The communication satellite will among other things save Nigeria more than two billion dollars annually and increase the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

“It will also reduce tariff on GSM phone services and satellite television broadcasting services, while linking the rural areas with telephone services and promoting e-commerce and e-government,’’ he said.

Ewa said that the ministry was also developing its human capacity in space technology, recalling that Nigerian experts made appreciable input in the design and manufacture of NigeriaSat-X.

The minister expatiated that the satellite was built by 26 Nigerian engineers and scientists under the supervision of experts at Surrey in UK, adding that over 100 Nigerian experts had also received very high-level training in space technology.

“100 personnel from the military, who have been trained in space applications, are now ready to be involved in the surveillance satellite project,’’ he added.

He particularly noted that the achievements of the Jonathan-administration’s in space technology had earned Nigeria the membership of the International Disaster Monitoring Constellation.

The minister, who discussed Nigeria’s space programme from now to 2028 when the country was expected to launch a made-in-Nigeria satellite into space, said that Nigeria would launch three satellites and send astronauts to space by 2015.

“In 2015, we are preparing to launch Nigeria-SAR-1 satellite; the Nigeria-SAR is a security satellite with an acronym that stands for Synthetic Aperture Radar.

“This satellite will have a very high resolution that can cover kilometres and for a backup of the communication satellite, there will be NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-3.

“Also, because of the experience we gained in Surrey, UK, we are going to build an assembly, integration and testing centre for satellite technology. It is ongoing but this year, we will put in more efforts in developing space technology,’’ he said.

In the area of solar technology, Ewa said that the ministry had established a 7.5-megawatt Solar Panel Assembling Plant at Karshi, a satellite town in the FCT, adding that the plant was now operational.

He also said that 88 solar-powered water boreholes and 5,048 stand-alone solar street lights had been installed across the 36 states of the federation and the FCT.

Besides, the minister said that the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) had trained 350 NYSC members, serving in different locations across the country, on how to use renewable energy technology applications for self-employment and economic empowerment.

He stressed that most of the energy challenges facing the country would be solved if all the energy sources were fully utilised.

He emphasised that all the parastatal agencies of the ministry are very relevant to the development of the nation through research-based science, technology and innovation.

Ewa, nonetheless, said that the non-commercialisation of research findings remained a major challenge, adding: “The ministry has several products awaiting commercialisation via linkages with entrepreneurs.’’

Corroborating the minister’s viewpoint, Mr Mohammed Seidu, Director-General, National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), said that NigeriaSat-1 was used to generate the satellite mapping of Nigeria and the mapping for the new railway project.

He said that NigeriaSat-1, which was also used for the production of the first satellite atlas in Africa, had been successfully applied in areas such as agricultural productivity, land cover mapping, food security and environmental monitoring in the Niger Delta.

“The numerous contributions of the satellite in the area of disaster monitoring and mitigation have indeed fetched Nigeria a global recognition,’’ Seidu told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview.

“For instance, NigeriaSat-1 was the first to capture images of Hurricane Katrina, which was made available to the U.S. government.

“Also during the Tsunami in Asia, floods in Sudan and forest fires in Australia, the satellite captured images which were of immense support to the governments of those nations during their critical moments.

“NigeriaSat-1 supported over 2,000 applications for research in Nigeria and other countries, including Argentina, Uruguay, North Korea, Pakistan, China, Vietnam, the U.S. and some parts of West Africa,’’ he said.

Seidu stressed that Nigeria would save more than two billion dollars, the amount spent on high resolution imagery annually, through NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X, adding that the country now had the capability to produce images, which were hitherto purchased from other countries for national planning and development purposes.

Also speaking, Mr Timasaniyu Ahmed-Rufai, the Managing Director of NIGCOMSAT Ltd., said that the satellite’s launch would boost Nigeria’s Global Competitive Index and GDI ranking.

He stressed that it would also enhance telecommunications, broadcasting, broadband internet and other space-based services, while empowering Nigeria to achieve the goals of Vision 20:2020.

Ahmed-Rufai noted that many countries had already indicated interest in procuring bandwidth from the satellite, which covered 40 African countries, six European countries and some Asian countries.

He said that some organisations had started making payments, adding that more agencies would subscribe to the services of the satellite when its operations were commercialised.

“ Actually, 60 per cent of government agencies are ready to move on to the satellite.

“We understand that there are existing contracts signed with other satellite operators. In spite of that, we have been doing a pre-launch marketing.

“Our customers, especially government agencies and some private agencies, are now very willing to move on to the NigComSat-1R,” he said.

Experts and stakeholders have commended the government for giving priority to science, technology and innovation.

They, however, stress the need for greater coordination among Nigeria’s science and technology agencies to enable the country to maximally benefit from the benefits of their research findings.

Emmanuel Oloniruha/ Ifeanyi Nwoko